February 23, 2026
Ruling and Calendar
Good morning, everyone!
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Today, we will look at the U.S. Supreme Court’s rebuke of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the week of news ahead.
Let’s get to it.
The Week Ahead
-Tuesday marks four years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
-President Donald Trump will deliver a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger will deliver the official Democratic response, while several congressional Democrats are expected to hold a rally in Washington as counterprogramming to the annual speech.
-Local and state elections will be held across Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
View a full list of the races here.
-Leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will meet in the Caribbean island federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis for a summit meeting.
-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
-Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his ally and Belarusian counterpart, Aleksandr Lukashenko, in Moscow on Thursday.
-Former President Joe Biden will attend a reception for the South Carolina Democratic Party in Columbia on Friday.
-U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel on Saturday.
-The United States will assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday.
Major Developments
-The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Friday invalidating many of President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.
The 6-3 ruling serves as a significant setback for the administration as it used tariffs as a central pillar of its economic policy. Trump first issued a sweeping 10% global tariff in April of last year under a 1977 statute. The Court’s majority said that the law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), did not authorize the president to impose duties, instead saying that Congress holds the sole authority to do so.
Read the full text of the opinion here.
Addressing reporters after the decision, Trump called the six justices who ruled against him a “disgrace to our nation” and said that he would authorize a new 10% global tariff using other statutory authorities.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the Court’s liberals in the ruling.
View his reaction here:
On Saturday, Trump announced he would raise the worldwide tariff to 15% “effective immediately.”
In an interview over the weekend, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a prospective 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, called Trump’s steeper tariffs a “farce.”
View the full interview here:
-Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said the “window of opportunity is closed” for a Democratic redistricting push in the state ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Ferguson last week in Annapolis in a bid to advance the effort backed by Governor Wes Moore.
-Trump hosted a bipartisan group of governors at the White House over the weekend, capping a weeklong gathering of the National Governors Association.
Democratic Governors Jared Polis and Wes Moore attended the gathering after Trump reversed his position disinviting them.
-The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would suspend its Global Entry and Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck programs as a partial government shutdown enters a second week.
-U.S. economic growth slowed to 1.4% in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the economy expanded at a 2.2% rate in 2025, the slowest full-year pace since 2020.
-A third round of talks between the United States and Iran will be held on Thursday in Oman as Washington has threatened military action against Tehran if it does not agree to limits on its nuclear program.
Ahead of the negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said in an interview with CBS that there is a “good chance” the two sides will agree to a diplomatic solution.
In recent months, Trump has deployed what he has called an “armada” to the region as he pushes Iran to agree to a deal.
-U.S. intelligence agencies believe that China is currently developing a new generation of nuclear weapons, according to CNN.
Beijing has long resisted calls by Washington to agree to nuclear talks to limit its growing nuclear arsenal. Currently, China has some 600 nuclear warheads, with its stockpile projected to reach 1,500 by 2035.
However, the United States and Russia hold the vast majority of existing stockpiles, with the last remaining nuclear arms reduction pact between the two countries expiring earlier this month.
-Argentina’s lower house of Congress approved a sweeping labor reform bill on Friday despite a nationwide strike led by unions. The legislation is backed by populist President Javier Milei.
The bill, which will now go to Milei for approval, weakens decades-old labor protections.
Milei has called the reform package a “liberation of the workforce,” saying it will remove the “straitjacket” of worker protections impeding economic growth and investment.
-On this day in 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington, D.C., under tight security ahead of his inauguration slated for March 4.
By that time, seven southern states had seceded from the Union as they believed Lincoln’s election would pose a threat to the institution of slavery.
In 1945, U.S. Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi—the island’s highest, most strategic point—during the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima.
Other Links:
Armed man shot and killed after entering perimeter around Trump’s Florida home - CNN
60% disapprove of Trump ahead of State of the Union, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds - Washington Post
New Jersey Democrats Send Coarse but Clear Message to ICE With New Bill - The New York Times
Dems working on secret report found Gaza cost Harris votes - Axios
Blizzard warnings cascade across East Coast with winter storm’s approach - AP
Team USA defeats Canada in overtime for first gold in men’s hockey since ‘Miracle on Ice’ Olympics - NBC
Mexico Kills Powerful Drug Kingpin, Sparking Violent Response - The Wall Street Journal
Venezuelan nonprofit says 16 verified prisoners released under Venezuela’s amnesty - AP
Cuban security forces exit Venezuela as US pressure mounts - Reuters
Brazil doesn’t want ‘new Cold War’, Lula says before Trump meeting - Reuters
Peru’s markets largely unfazed as its revolving-door presidency spins again - Reuters
Brazil and India agree to boost cooperation on rare earths - AP
Pakistan claims to have killed at least 70 militants in strikes along the Afghan border - AP
Australian warship transits Taiwan Strait, tracked by China’s navy - Reuters
Satellite images show first glimpse of China’s Type 095 nuclear submarine - South China Morning Post
Russia Attacks Ukraine Ahead of Invasion’s 4th Anniversary - The New York Times
Explosions kill police officer and injure 25 in western Ukraine - BBC
Ukraine blames Russia for ‘terrorist attack’ in Lviv - Financial Times
Ukraine strikes a key industrial site deep inside Russia - NBC
Hungary to block new EU sanctions on Russia over Ukraine pipeline dispute - Reuters
Trump’s talk of sending a hospital ship to Greenland puzzles leaders - Washington Post
Outcry after Ambassador Mike Huckabee suggests Israel has God-given right to Middle East land - NBC
US says ambassador’s comments on Israel and the Middle East were taken out of context - AP
That’s all for today. See you tomorrow.
Notes:
https://www.axios.com/2026/02/22/south-carolina-democrats-biden-2028-primary
https://scowcroft.substack.com/p/tsg-weekly-calendar-february-23-march
Fine cross-current survey, Jacob. Thank you.